giving me a ride to your house?”
“I figured you were too much of a hardheaded person to not jump. I would never just let you plummet on your own without being there… the whole sleeping at my house thing, that wasn’t part of my analysis, but hey, two for three.”
I bring my hands to the vents and let the air start to warm me. Kayden extends his arm toward the back seat then places a blanket on my lap. “Wow, you really do think of everything,” I tell him.
“I always keep a blanket in the car, so don’t think I had that all ready for you.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Harrison.”
“Good, Cole. Don’t want you thinking I’m a good guy now.”
“Not a chance. You’ve spent many years being a jerk, one night doesn’t make up for all that,” I reply with a smile then make myself comfortable for the rest of the ride.
KAYDEN HARRISON
I park the car in the garage and shut it off. Removing the key from the ignition, I step out and close the door slowly. Then, I head over to the passenger side and open the door.
Ari stirs in her sleep, the blanket I’d given her wrapped around her while her hair covers most of her face.
She looks beautiful… and calm. If anyone else saw her now, they’d believe she’s a sweetheart, but I know that’s not true. At least not when it comes to me. And you know what, I like her just as she is.
I place one of my arms under her knees and the other comes around her waist as I lift her from the car seat.
“What the hell?” she screams, opening her eyes widely as she shifts her body unexpectedly.
I drop her. I don’t mean to, but I wasn’t expecting her to wake up, let alone start fighting me. “Oh damn, I’m so sorry,” I tell her, feeling like the worst person in the world while extending my hand to help her up.
Her eyes have that fire that have always drawn me to her. “Are you okay?” I ask when she doesn’t say anything. “Did that hurt? I’m so sorry,” I tell her again. I can’t believe I dropped her. “I swear to you it wasn’t intentional. I thought you were asleep.”
She bats my hand away and gets up from the floor with the blanket in tow. She brings it around her body, covering herself once again. “You couldn’t have just woken me up?” she asks, like that was the more simple solution. I guess it was.
I run my fingers through my hair. “I was trying to be nice.”
“So nice you dropped me,” she replies, making me feel even worse.
“I swear on everything that I did not mean to,” I tell her, hoping she sees the sincerity in my eyes. I’ve always given her a hard time, but I’d never want her to get hurt. I would never want to hurt her.
She stares back at me and I swear she’s going to kick me in the balls or something. That she’ll exact some plan to get even. I’m surprised when her frown is replaced by a smile. I find that even more unsettling despite how much more beautiful it makes her look standing in my parking garage, wrapped in my blanket, with her curls framing her face.
“The look on your face was priceless,” she says, her smile turning into a full-fledged laughter.
I shake my head. “Are you serious? I thought you got hurt badly. I thought you were going to kill me.”
She shrugs. “I could tell you didn’t mean to.”
“How so?”
“You’re not the only one who pays attention,” she says and I crack a smile. “When I fell, you looked like you’d seen a ghost.”
“So, you knew it was an accident?”
She nods. “Yup. But I wanted to see you suffer a little anyway. It’s rare to see The Kayden Harrison,” she says, her arm pointing from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, “look genuinely apologetic.”
“I’ve been nothing but kind to you tonight!” I tell her.
“Yeah… I still don’t know what that’s about,” she says, looking at me quizzically.
I press the button to close the garage door. “Well, while you try and figure that out, do you mind if we go inside? You may have a blanket covering you, but my pants are still wet. And let me tell you, wet jeans are not the best for—”
“Alright! Let’s go in. But please, stop it with the too much information.”
I chuckle.